On a cold January evening in 2013, the life of 21-year-old Sidney Farver Jr., a Black/African American male, was tragically cut short in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. On the night of January 26th, shots rang out near the intersection of 18th and Elm Streets. Despite suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, a wounded Farver managed to drive himself to a nearby Church's Chicken on South Cherry Street in a desperate attempt to seek help.
Emergency services were called to the location, and Farver was
quickly transported to Jefferson Regional Medical Center. Tragically, the severity of his injuries was too great, and he was pronounced dead later that evening. The initial call of shots fired in his neighborhood had tragically evolved into a homicide investigation, leaving a family and community to mourn the loss of a young man.
For a year, the case remained under investigation. Then, in a significant development on January 30, 2014, the Pine Bluff Police Department announced an arrest. Percy Jackson, who was 21 years old at the time, was taken into custody and charged with two counts of capital murder, one of which was for the death of Sidney Farver. Authorities also implicated Jackson in another fatal shooting that had occurred on January 18, 2014, which resulted in the death of another individual and injuries to two others. Following his arrest, Jackson was held at the Jefferson County Jail as the investigation into both incidents continued.
